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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25068289">The art storage</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/windupgod/pseuds/windupgod'>windupgod</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>BatIM Oneshots [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bendy and the Ink Machine</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Eventual Fluff, M/M, Regretful Joey, Slight swearing, Smut, Some Plot, Workplace Sex, and forgiving Henry, getting caught, well it happens in the storage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 02:14:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,700</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25068289</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/windupgod/pseuds/windupgod</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Joey and Henry broke up a while ago, but Joey can't stop thinking about the animator. Then one day, he just appears in the Studio, looking for some stuff he left behind. Joey helps him, and together they definitely find.. something.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Implied Thomas/Wally, Joey Drew/Henry Stein</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>BatIM Oneshots [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2114403</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>57</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The art storage</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>o/ This was made as a suggestion from anon Linda under another story of mine. Thank you again for the cool ideas, I had fun writing this one ^^ Hope you (and others too haha) will enjoy it ~</p><p> </p><p>As usual, if I forgot to tag something you feel like I should, feel free to drop me a comment ;v; I also feel like this is not *as* explicit as my usual stuff, but I wanna stay on the safe side.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It felt like ages since Henry left the Studio. Or maybe every minute just seemed to pass twice as slow for Joey, without Henry. Either way, he had to start processing the thought of never seeing the animator ever again in his life, as it was very much looking to be the case. They didn’t part on the best terms. It was more like the angry, yelling, blaming-eachother way, and Joey was sure that Henry wouldn’t wish to meet him again. After all, he awfully mistreated him. It didn’t really matter that he regretted it; what happened couldn’t be erased, and words couldn’t be taken back.</p><p>And that exactly was the reason why Joey was nearly shocked when Henry suddenly appeared in the Studio one day.</p><p> </p><p>Joey was minding his own business, as usual. He was sitting in his office, looking through some documents of filed tax reports and new hirees. He recently had to hire a few more people, mainly animators; it was sure hard to replace Henry, and it didn’t change even after months. He just constantly had to recruit new staff, and none of them seemed to even go near Henry’s level. <em> Of course. He could never hope for someone nearly as good as Henry was. </em></p><p>He was flipping through the new gofer boy, Daniel’s papers, when he heard two rushed knocks on his door. He raised a brow; he was definitely not expecting anyone that day. And Miss Rodriguez didn’t mention anything either. It was almost 5 pm. <em> Who could be bothering him at this hour? </em></p><p>“Yes, come in.” He said in his formal, calm tone. Whoever was on the other side, it was most likely an employee or someone with official business, and Joey wanted to preserve the image of himself being the kind, put-together head of the Studio. <em> It was for his best interest that others see him like that. No one needs to know about his personal struggles and troubles. </em></p><p>The door opened, and Joey nearly gasped. His eyes grew wide with surprise, and his heart started pounding.</p><p>“Hey, Joey.” The voice he missed so much began. “Been a while, huh?”</p><p>Joey still didn’t dare to believe his eyes. In his door stood Henry, looking better than ever, smiling gently. Joey knew that the smile wasn’t for him; it was just Henry’s natural face expression. <em> So pure. </em>But he still relished in it regardless.</p><p>“Henry.” He managed to react after a while, though it came out a tad shaky and uncertain. Joey wasn’t sure how to act. Like friends? Just formal? He surely didn’t want to be hostile towards the animator. He didn’t hold any grief anymore. “What.. what may I do for you?” He went with a more formal approach.</p><p>“This might come off as a bit odd.” Henry let out a little nervous laugh. The corner of Joey’s lip curled up slightly. <em> He sure still loved that laugh. </em>“I’ve left something here, some of my.. sketches and stuff. They might be lost by now, and I would absolutely understand that, but I was thinking it’s worth a try.. It would be really useful for.. for my new job.”</p><p><em> New job. </em> Joey, obviously, knew about Henry’s new job; it definitely played a part in their break-up. It was easier for Henry to move on with a stable, secure job to support him. But it still hurt, just the <em> tiniest bit. </em></p><p>“Well, we can have a look around, and see what we find. Do you remember where you left them?”</p><p>“Probably around my desk. My <em> old desk</em>. I’m certain I put them in a cardboard tube, with all my sketches and plans..” Henry took a few steps towards Joey’s desk while speaking. “If you could ask around..”</p><p>“Well, why won’t we go and ask around, then?” Joey placed both palms on the edge of his desk (which was almost a slam), and got up.</p><p>Henry was visibly tense as Joey walked up to him, even though the man was being respectful, keeping the two-step distance. <em> He was kinda hurt about Henry’s behavior, to be fair. </em> He still remembered how Henry used to rush to him, wrap his arms around his neck and give him a kiss. <em> But that wasn’t appropriate to think about right now. It was the past.  </em>Joey whooshed the memory away.</p><p>“We could start in the animation department. Miss Lambert surely wouldn’t mind if we dropped by.” Joey started moving out of his office to a direction, briefly nodding to Henry to follow.</p><p>They rode the lift quietly <em> (and a bit awkwardly), </em>and they only broke the silence again once they arrived to Animation.</p><p>“Miss Lambert!” Joey spoke up maybe a tad too cheerily, causing Miss Lambert to jump a little. She rolled her eyes before turning to face his boss, who was smiling as ever, and was accompanied by someone she never saw, <em> but knew about. </em> Everyone knew about <em> the </em>Henry. “This is Henry Stein. He is my.. he used to work here. He’s looking for some papers of his. Which were in a…”</p><p>“A brown cardboard tube.” Henry helped him out with a polite smile. Miss Lambert’s face actually lightened up a little as a reaction to Henry’s positive energy. “I’ve left it many-many months ago.. but maybe someone knows about it. It also had my initials on it.”</p><p>Miss Lambert hummed, and nodded all-knowingly. “Yeah, I think I can recall seeing that. It’s been a while, though.. we were just tossing it around for a while, not wanting to throw it out, you know. It probably ended up in the old storage, if any. Feel free to check that out, that’s your best shot.” The woman shrugged. “Hey, no eavesdropping, back to work! You still have half an hour ‘til finish!” She raised her voice slightly as she noticed how everyone was looking up at them, instead of down at their papers.</p><p>“Will do that. Thank you, Miss Lambert. It was nice to meet you.” Henry smiled, and shook Miss Lambert’s hand.</p><p>“Pleasure’s all mine.” Miss Lambert couldn’t hold back a smile either, and looked at Henry rather fondly. <em> She absolutely understood why Joey was all over this man. </em></p><p>She was staring in their direction even after a while they left. She was thinking about how unfortunate it was that these two were no longer together. She was sure a good man like Henry could fix Joey. She shook her head disapprovingly, and turned back to work. After all, they were nearing another deadline.</p><p> </p><p>“So.. got yourself a few new employees, huh?” Henry coughed as they were walking down the long hallways. He just wanted to do a little small talk; it was getting <em> really </em>awkward again.</p><p>“I had to.” Joey answered rather sternly. “You left.”</p><p>“I left.” Henry gulped. <em> Well, it just got even more awkward. </em> It did it’s purpose, though. They finally arrived at the storage room <em> (which really did look way too old, judging by the rusty door), </em>and the clinking of keys broke the silence as Joey was searching for the right one. “Don’t you have a master key?” Henry asked in genuine surprise, staring at the bunch of keys.</p><p>“I got used to do it this way. I don’t need more changes.” Joey was muttering as he swiftly found the right key and opened the storage.</p><p>It wasn't a large area, but the shelves were stuffed, and there was an old wardrobe as well, half open, packed with ink and papers. There were some cardboard boxes laying around, also full of things everyone already forgot about. This was gonna be a long afternoon for Henry.</p><p>“Well.. thank you for your assistance, Joey.” He cleared his throat. “I can take it from here, you don’t need to stay..”</p><p>“Nonsense.” Joey retorted, and Henry raised a brow. <em> He was really prepared to just be left alone to find his things. </em>“I’ll help. Two pairs of hands are better than one, right?”</p><p>Henry saw the faintest smile on Joey’s face. It was kind of.. sad.</p><p>“I appreciate it.”</p><p>“Then let’s start, shall we? Your papers aren’t gonna find themselves.”</p><p> </p><p>But they didn’t find them either. They have been looking for almost an hour, when Henry straightened his posture after being hunched down to a box for at least ten minutes. He stroked his back, and groaned.</p><p>“Gosh, we’re never gonna find it. I think it might be actually lost. Maybe we should give up..”</p><p>“Don’t give up yet. It should be here.. somewhere.” Joey turned back quickly from a shelf to face Henry. “We’ll find it, promise.”</p><p>He wasn’t sure if he believed that. The only thing he was sure of is that he didn’t want Henry to leave. They didn’t have a conversation or anything, but just to have him <em> this close </em>again made Joey feel better. And he wanted this to last. Forever, even.</p><p>“Alright.” Henry sighed. “I’ll go get a drink for us though, how does that sound? I’ll just bring it here from the kitchen.”</p><p>“Want me to accompany you?”</p><p>“Nah, I’m good. I can still find the kitchen. I know this place like the back of my hand.” Henry chuckled, and Joey nodded meekly with a smile.</p><p>“You sure do.”</p><p>“Be right back.”</p><p>Henry jumped to his feet, and took a few long steps to the door. They shut, but didn’t close it, so Henry just grabbed the handle and pushed it down, getting ready to fling it open, except.. He couldn’t. He heard a metallic clang from the other side, and he froze. Joey also heard it; he swiftly jerked his head to the direction of the sound - and a confused Henry.</p><p>“I.. uh.. not sure what just happened.” There was a slight stammer in Henry’s voice.</p><p>Joey got up silently, and walked up to the animator to investigate the issue. And he quickly realized what went wrong.</p><p>“The damn handle.” He said quietly, as if just for himself. “I told Thomas so many times to fix it. Some of these doors are just too old. Handles tend to break.”</p><p>“So.. How are we getting out?” Henry started to panic a bit. He knew very well that everyone must have already left, and that they likely didn’t have any suitable tools to force the door open in an art storage. <em> They might be stuck there for the whole night. </em> “Wait, do you have the keys?”</p><p>Joey tapped at all his pockets, looking for the object, but in the end he just shook his head and shrugged.</p><p>“Must have left them outside in the keyhole. I’m.. sorry, Henry. Wally might be still around. We’ll just have to wa-”</p><p>“Hey! Hello, we’re here!” Henry yelled suddenly, and banged at the door a few times, also trying the inner handle as a desperate attempt. He repeated these once again after a short wait, but nobody answered, and nothing happened. He gave up.</p><p>Joey silently waited until Henry calmed down a bit, mostly just staring down at the wooden floors idly.</p><p>“I’m sorry Joey. It’s my fault.” Joey suddenly felt Henry’s hand on his shoulder, which made him look up. He met Henry’s soft, tired gaze. <em> All he could think about is how much he wants to kiss him. He couldn't care less about the door at that moment. </em></p><p>“N-no. It’s fine, not your fault.” He swallowed hard and tried to suppress his thoughts. “How about we rest a bit? We can continue the search later.”</p><p>“Yeah, sounds good. I guess we’ll be here for a while anyways, huh?” Henry laughed weakly. He walked up to a shelf, passing by Joey, and sat down, leaning his back to it.</p><p>Joey hesitantly followed him and did the same, but still kept some distance from the other.</p><p>“So, how have you been?” Henry spoke up after a bit of silence.</p><p>“You know, just the usual.” Joey decided to go along with the attempted small talk. He was actually relieved that Henry was speaking to him. He was afraid they’d spend the whole time just sitting quietly. <em> And awkwardly. </em>“Studio’s doing alright, it keeps me busy. Hired a few new people, we have a few new projects..”</p><p>“I mean, with <em> you.</em>” Henry laughed softly. “Don’t misunderstand me, I do care about the Studio, but.. I’m just more interested in you.”</p><p>Joey’s heart skipped a beat. Even though it wasn’t an <em> ‘I missed you’, </em> it was <em> something. </em></p><p>“Well.. nothing interesting with me..”</p><p>“Do you still go to the theater?” Henry suggested.</p><p>“Sometimes. It’s not as fun alone, I guess.”</p><p>“So you.. haven’t met anyone new, then?”</p><p>“No.. Have you..?”</p><p>“No.”</p><p>Joey was blushing a bit <em> (he was rather grateful for the dim lights), </em>and there was some silence again after that - but not for long. They slowly started a conversation about past memories, just recalling fun events they did together, and laughed quite a lot. And Joey was inching closer to Henry almost unnoticeably as they spoke.</p><p>“Oh, yeah, I remember that.” Henry laughed out after a story they recited. “I still didn’t go back to that restaurant.”</p><p>“I won’t ever.” Joey snickered. “But I don’t think we missed out on a lot.”</p><p>“Definitely, the food tasted rather mediocre.”</p><p>As Joey got closer to Henry again, he accidentally touched the animator’s hand he rested on the floor next to him. He instantly pulled away, fearing of ruining <em> whatever </em>that was between them right now.</p><p>“Sorry.” He mumbled.</p><p>But then he felt Henry’s fingers on his.</p><p>“It’s okay.” Henry’s voice came out a tad faint. “You know, Joey.. I’ve been missing you.”</p><p><em> I’ve been missing you. There it is. </em>Joey was waiting to hear this for so long. He almost couldn’t believe it.</p><p>He cautiously entwined their fingers, and stroked Henry’s palm a little.</p><p>“Missed you too.. a lot, Henry.” He sighed. “I kept thinking, and.. I’m just so sor-”</p><p>He was interrupted by Henry in a <em> way </em>that took him quite by surprise to say the least. It all happened very sudden; Henry’s hand crept up to his face, and he pulled him into a slow, passionate kiss.</p><p>He didn’t object at all, though. He sighed and leaned into the touches, which gave Henry the perfect opportunity to deepen the kiss. Joey let out a little whine as he felt Henry’s free hand go up his thigh and squeeze it lightly.</p><p>“Henry.. what are you doing?” He whispered, but it’s not like he wanted him to stop. It all was getting a bit <em> too </em> good, and he felt his pants tighten as a reaction to the soft, pleasant touches of the man he <em> still </em>loved.</p><p>“I don’t know.” Henry laughed faintly. “I think I want you. And.. <em> I think you want me, too.” </em>With that, Henry moved his hand even higher, and palmed Joey’s already hard member. The man let out a low hiss, and his hips involuntarily bucked forward slightly.</p><p>“Of course I want you.” He whispered, and looked Henry in the eye. “I love you, after all.”</p><p>For a moment, they just kept the eye contact, but there was so much in that silent connection. Joey saw a mixture of emotions, including affection and love; and that’s all he needed. <em> This is fine. If Henry still has some feelings for him, then it’s all fine. </em> He leaned closer to Henry for another kiss, while slowly pushing him back, taking a glance behind him to not accidentally lay them on some clutter. Then he leaned over Henry, and looked down at him lovingly.</p><p>“Damn, Henry, you’re as beautiful as I remembered.”</p><p>“Just come here, ya’.” Henry chuckled a bit about how sentimental Joey could get <em> (something no one would have ever believed - only Henry saw this side of the man), </em>then grabbed onto his collar and pulled him down to himself.</p><p>While their lips found eachother again, Joey reached down and unbuckled Henry’s belt, helping him out of the trousers. Henry assisted him a little, to speed up the process, and Joey got rid of his own pants as well.</p><p>“All we have here is ink. How do you feel about using ink as a lube?” Joey laughed a little, then quickly added, “I’m joking. I’d rather do it like this, anyways..-”</p><p>He stroked Henry’s lower lip with two fingers, and Henry instantly got the hint. He took them into his mouth, wrapped his tongue around them and tried to make them as wet as possible. The scene alone was enough to make Joey even more aroused. He eventually pulled away, and brushed the fingers against Henry’s entrance, slowly pushing in with one. Henry let out a small cry as he felt Joey add the second finger after a short while.</p><p>“Is this alright? Am I not hurting you?”</p><p>“N-No. Keep going.” Henry moaned as Joey’s finger hit against his prostate. Then he abruptly stopped, making the animator whine in confusion.</p><p>“I hope this will be enough.” Joey murmured as he positioned the tip of his length to Henry’s entrance, carefully thrusting in inch by inch.</p><p>Henry whimpered and pulled Joey tightly against himself, wrapping his arms around the other’s neck. Joey sneaked his hands behind Henry’s back, lifting him up slightly to be even closer - if that was even possible. He kept gradually thrusting into him, while holding him in his arms and relishing in the moment. Their bodies rocked together in perfect unison, and Joey’s thrusts grew more and more erratic as they both neared climax. They came together, moaning and crying out eachother’s name, holding onto the other as if for dear life.</p><p>Joey rolled next to Henry on the floor. He really just wanted to cuddle up to the animator, but he was completely confused on where they were right now; until Henry actually pulled him into an embrace. He happily complied, and they were just lying there like that for a while, not even bothering to dress up.</p><p>"So.. what are we now?" Joey dared to ask after a while, swallowing hard. <em> He was afraid of the answer. </em></p><p>"I think-"</p><p>Henry was interrupted by a sudden <em> bang </em>as the door flung open rather violently.</p><p>"These damn doors, always just-" Thomas was muttering to himself, but his whole expression and tone quickly changed as he noticed the two on the floor, still mostly naked. "<em>Oh my god, Mr. Drew. </em>" His face reddened and he instantly covered his eyes with a forearm. "Get dressed, will ya'?"</p><p>Both Henry and Joey got up swiftly, and started to look for their pants, exchanging little looks and chuckling slightly. It was like being young again and getting caught; embarrassing for sure, but also exciting in an odd way. <em> Definitely brought up some memories in the two. </em></p><p>When they were ready, Joey walked up to the mechanic and put a hand on his shoulder.</p><p>"It's alright Tommy, you can look now. Also, thanks for opening the door. We thought we'll be locked up for the night."</p><p>"Yeah, I bet you did." Thomas grunted as he uncovered his eyes slowly, making sure he won't see something he doesn't want again. "Finished here? I still need to fix this crap."</p><p>"Well.. we still haven't found Henry's things.." Joey hummed, but Henry stepped next to him.</p><p>"It's fine. It's not that important. Or maybe we can continue searching another time. Let's just go for now."</p><p>Joey nodded resignedly, and they walked out of the room. When they got a bit farther from hearing ears, Joey began again.</p><p>"What you were starting.." he cleared his throat, looking at Henry expectantly.</p><p>"Yeah, that.." Henry stopped abruptly, making Joey halt as well, and he turned to face the man. "Look, I can't say I have forgiven you entirely for the way you treated me back then, but.. I also never gave you a second chance. Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like you've changed. For the better, this time. I'll give you that chance, and.. we'll see."</p><p>Joey nodded furiously.</p><p>"Yes, yes, I've changed, I swear. I realized what I've done wrong, and won't do it again." <em>Joey honestly felt like he'd changed. </em>He was ready to start over. "I.. love you, Henry."</p><p>"I love you too." Henry smiled, and Joey's heartbeat sped up. "I won't come back to the Studio, though." He added as they began walking again towards the exit.</p><p>"That's fine. We don't have to work together to be a couple."</p><p>"It's for the best. I will also stay in my apartment. We need to start slowly. How about dinner tomorrow?"</p><p>"Sounds good." Joey smiled softly. "Can I at least drive you home?"</p><p>They have arrived outside in the meanwhile, and Joey noticed that the only car there was his. He didn't want Henry to have to walk home at night.</p><p>"Sure, I'd appreciate that."</p><p>The way to Henry's apartment was spent in silence, but they parted with a kiss. Joey stayed at the spot for a while, even after Henry had already entered the building, and only drove away after a good ten minutes.</p><p>And he was happy.</p><p> </p><p>---</p><p> </p><p>"So Henry's back with Joey?" Abby Lambert leaned onto a kitchen wall, arms crossed, while Thomas was making a coffee.</p><p>"Well, it seemed like that yesterday." The man groaned, recalling the events. "They seemed.. happy, I guess. Haven't seen Joey genuinely happy for a while. He thinks he's faking it well, but nah."</p><p>"I know. Maybe Henry's presence will be a good influence for Joey. It was kinda lucky that the door broke, huh?" Miss Lambert chuckled.</p><p>Thomas narrowed his eyes while he took a sip of his coffee.</p><p>"You got something to do with this?"</p><p>"Directly? No. But I did know which storage to send them to. Oh, I also have Henry's cardboard tube, the one they were looking for. I will take it to Joey's office later."</p><p>"Damn, Abby. You're like a real life cupid, huh?" Thomas gave her a faint smile.</p><p>"Guess you could put it like that. Now, was it Wally you liked?"</p><p>Thomas almost choked on his coffee, and he smashed the cup down to the counter.</p><p>"Bye, Abby." He mumbled annoyedly, and simply left.</p><p>Miss Lambert smirked. She already had a plan for those two.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thomas x Wally? Another new ship I'm totally down with.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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